It’s almost that time again! Obviously, the most wonderful time of the year, Dallas Comedy Festival (DCF) kicks off on Tuesday, March 22. To help you put together your festival schedule, we want to make sure you get to know as many of the fabulous out-of-town acts as possible that will be dropping into Dallas Comedy House.In my personal opinion, the most important conversations happening right now are LGBT and minority representation in media. And to me, there’s no better avenue for commentary than stand-up comedy.

New York stand-up comic Jamie Pierce is bringing his style to the Dallas Comedy Festival. His act has featured stories about hypochondria, being an Episcopalian boy in a Mormon state, and life as a gay man. And as a fan of all things stage, I was very excited to learn in my research that he performed as a dancer alongside Tony Award-winner Karen Ziemba for a charity event.

I asked Jamie a few questions and tried my best to keep the theatre nerd to a minimum. I did not wholly succeed on that last part, but I regret nothing.

Before you were a stand-up, you were a ballet dancer and a Broadway chorus boy. When did you decide that comedy was something you wanted to try?

As a dancer, you are rarely encouraged to speak, let alone share your thoughts or opinions. The notion of using my brain and expressing myself was intriguing. So I tried it on a whim, just for fun. I never imagined it would turn into a career. But here I am, over a decade later, still yapping away.

How did you find your point of view as a gay comedian in what seems to be an industry heavily dominated by heterosexual men?

It’s great being gay and hanging out in comedy clubs because comedians are so sensitive and respectful toward gay issues. I probably do not need to qualify that previous statement as sarcastic but just to be clear - gay jokes are still alive and well in comedy. I don't object because you need a thick skin in this business, and comedy should be allowed certain freedoms. But like most comics I’m still a white male so, fortunately, I am able to offer this unique perspective, which helps me stand apart from the crowd.

KC Ryan is currently a Level 5 student at DCH. An office worker by day, she spends her nights writing, improvising, recording podcasts, and having existential crises. She’s a co-host of Parsec Award-nominated podcast Anomaly Supplemental about general sci-fi and fantasy topics. Her greatest achievement so far is convincing her husband to watch Project Runway.